Hunt Oil Road.

Introduction.

The Hunt Oil road is a short track between the Gunbarrel Highway and the Great Central Road in the Great Victoria Desert. Not as popular as the David Carnegie Road (formerly the "Eagle Highway") to Empress Springs, it still passes through some interesting country. Date September 27th to October 1st 1997.

Vehicles.

This group consisted of myself in a Standard 80-series diesel Landcruiser and 3 off road motor cycles. The bikes initially took a different route to the rendezvous point. They took a trailer with the bikes to the Tjukayirla Roadhouse 313 kms East of Laverton. The trailer was parked and the bikes set off for Warburton Roadhouse. They then swung round and followed the Gunbarrel Highway to Geraldton Bore.

I set off via Wiluna to Carnegie Station and onto Geraldton Bore.

Safety.

Since the bikes had limited carrying capacity for fuel and water as well as the safety aspect, I had arranged to be at the bore 1 day before the bikes were due. If the bikes were more than 12 hours late, I was to follow the Gunbarrel Highway until I found them. In case of accident, there were enough bikes to send one ahead to raise the alarm with me or retrace to Warburton - whichever was nearer. One rider had been in this area with me before.

Trip Description

The drive up to Meekatharra (770 kms) was unremarkable and completed in about 8 1/2 hrs. After a meal and a break, I turned east towards Wiluna and camped 40 kms West of the township. A tube had become pinched in a rim resulting in a flat tyre earlier in the day, so first job on camping was to repair the wheel. This completed; I made radio contact with home. (Standard procedure for remote area travels. The first message is always done from a place of safety - in case of radio problems. The radio had been checked before leaving Perth.

A quiet night disturbed only by the croaking of frogs and the nocturnal animals wandering around the camp.

The next morning saw me heading across to Carnegie Station (S25#47.8' E122#58.37') at the western end of the Gunbarrel Highway. Carnegie is a cattle station, which has a small shop and sells fuel to travellers. They also have an informal network with Warburton Roadhouse to keep each other informed of travellers on the Gunbarrel Highway. It is common sense as well as politeness to drop in and say G'Day.

Having refuelled, I headed east towards Geraldton bore (S25#10.61'E124#39.71'). The first 80 kms of this leg is easy travelling, the next 120 kms is a little rougher with some fair sized washouts. Since there had been a little rain, the spinifex was about 1 metre high. The only real concern was if there had been water in the Mungilli Claypan (S25#23.77' E124#14.31'). Fortunately, the little water present was away from the main track.

A mulga (Acacia aneuria) stake savaged a tyre about 5 kms from the bore so I knew the evening had some work ahead.

I arrived at the bore about 3 p.m. After making camp, a brew of coffee and a walk around, I settled down to fix the puncture.

That evening, I had a meal of Beef satay with rice and tinned fruit and then made my usual radio check with Pat at home and settled down to enjoy the tranquility of the desert.

Just as I popped the first tinny, the sound of motor cycles violated the air. The lads were a day early. They arrived in camp and we spent the next hour discussing the plans for the morrow. One Biker had been injured and was staying at Warburton until he was collected or he felt fit enough to ride back to Tjukayirla.

We set off the next morning at 0700. The first part of the track was well defined but the grass was tall. I had already put up a grass screen over the front of the truck. It was necessary to stop every 10 kms to stop and clear the inflammable grasses from around the exhaust, transmission and differentials. The tracks remained well defined for about 40 kms but small shrubs (Smokebush, Grevilleas) as well as the spinifex were present between the wheel marks. On many occasions, the centre of the track was ploughed by the diffs!

Eventually, the track was less obstructed as the ground became less sandy.

It was possible in this area to increase speed to 30 kph for short spells. Half way down the track, we crossed a low lying, wide flood area (Herbert Wash). In this area, there were some "fun" washouts. These were on the northern aspect of the Wash. Once through those, we saw the two hills, Mount Worsnop [461 metres] (left) and Mount Allot. The track ran between.

As we left the wash area, we passed a track to an old drilling camp and a big washout appeared soon after. (S26#06.76' E124#43.71')

The next section was good and soon a sidetrack appeared. This leads to Tjirkarli Aboriginal community and is private. From this junction to the Great Central Road the surface was excellent.

Well, almost! About 10 kms from the road, a huge washout is present. This is marked with an old rim. It is on a soft corner so if going too fast, it is possible to slide into it.

Once back on the main Great Central Road it is about 100 km back to Tjukayirla (S27#09.38'E124#34.39') and 150 km to Warburton Roadhouse (S26#08'E126#35').

The wildflowers were out but not a spectacular as in previous years. The drive back to Tjukayirla Roadhouse was unremarkable where we stopped. The drive had taken us 6 hours to cover the Hunt Oil Road (280 kms) rather than the 2 days expected. The injured biker rejoined the party the following day and all went home.

On my way home, I blew a piston and required recovery to Laverton and then had to send my Landcruiser back to Perth on a flatbed truck. A sad end to a fun trip.

Comment On this occasion, the track was good and flat for the most part. It is not heavily used which may account for the good surface. The track traverses Crown land, permits are not required. This route could be used as an alternative to the Heather Highway between Warburton and Carnegie Station. All standard safety equipment should be carried - especially communications, water and tyre repair materials. A spinifex screen is essential.

• Map: Westprint "The Gunbarrel Highway".
• Book: The Great Victoria Desert by Mark Shephard. Published by Reed 1995.

See also WA and Australia pages